Kerala's Sewer Robot

Feb 21, 2018 06:36 PM IST
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Meet Bandicoot, Kerala’s answer to the problem of manual scavenging.From March 2nd, Bandicoot will be deployed by Kerala Water Authority to clean sewers. Despite a ban, manual scavengers are still employed under inhuman conditions in many cities. Accidents in sewers claim lives of dozens of ‘safai karmacharis’ every year. 2017 saw 39 deaths in just 100 days. Developed by a start-up, Genrobotics, Kerala hopes Bandicoot can help end manual scavenging. Bandicoot can lower itself into sewers, and uses four ‘limbs’ to navigate within. A shovel-like appendage clears out blocks. Bandicoot will first clean the sewers of Thiruvananthapuram ahead of the famous Attukal Pongala festival.